The original Hoodstead farm on Paul Rudy Road in Middletown, was purchased by Scotts parents in 1957. The operation consisted of 130 acres and all Holsteins. At the age of 19, Scott suddenly lost his father to cancer, but fortunately, he taught me more in the 19 years that I had with him than others learn in a lifetime. With the strong business sense from his father, Scott took over the operation and began to purchase the cattle and equipment from his mother in 1979, and the farm in 1983. A rain shower in April of 1983, stopped him from planting corn that day, and he remembered that the Brown Swiss Calf Sale was being held that day at the neighboring farm of Robert Culler. He decided to go and purchased an Improver daughter, who would go on to become excellent and make records of over 30,000 milk. From that point on Scott began to make select purchases of Swiss to the predominately Holstein herd. Today we currently own 100 head of Swiss with only four remaining Holstein.
In July 1987 he attended the National Brown Swiss Convention in Dayton, Ohio, and purchased Garbro Jubilant Natasha, a Bridge View Jesta Jubilant daughter out of Garbro King Nikki 3E90. In November of the same year he married Judy Murphy, a legal secretary who hailed from a Holstein herd. Judy soon learned the trials of raising Swiss calves as she became full-time on the farm. She found that you soon fall in love with the beautiful brown girls and their gentle ways. Scott laughs that both his selections turned out well as the Swiss have taken over the herd and the marriage is still going strong after 22 years.
The N family is still strong in the herd today and are all descendants of Natasha. Hoodstead Improver Nicolette 3E90, a daughter of Natasha, and a Superior Brood Cow would produce Hoodstead VBSS New Year who excelled and put us over the edge. New Year was a daughter of VB Spices Sensation and was EX90. She was put on an extensive flush program, and soon changed the goals at Hoodstead of being a 50/50 herd of Swiss and Holstein. New Year flushed well and produced heifer calves, and the Holstein herd became recipients for the Swiss. A natural calf of New Year, Hoodstead Jetway Nicole, would become the first in the cow family to achieve an All-American nomination in 1998. She scored EX90. Many more daughters of New Year would go on to become Excellent and have All American nominations. Hoodstead Farm had the Res. All American Jr. Best 3 Females in 2002 and 2003. Five of the six animals listed were from the New Year cow. Just last year another descendant of this cow family, Hoodstead Starsky Betsy ET was the 2009 All American Fall Yearling in Milk. New Year was indeed the matriarch of the herd. She passed away at 10 years of age. Having been born on New Years Eve; she died on that same day 10 years later.
The most important female addition to the Hoodstead prefix came along on July 28, 1993, when Nicole Louise Hood was born. She was due close to the Brown Swiss Field Day, so Judy was told by Scott to sit tight on a lawn chair so we could make it through show day and it worked. Nicole arrived four days later. At age four months Nicole was given her first calf by friends, Bill and Cindy Warner. Round Hill Tradition Pixie, would later score VG86, and produced several records over 30,000M. Pixie would become the start of the P family for Nicole. Pixie had three daughters all named by Nicole Pooh Bear, Piglet and Pumpkin. Pooh Bear would go on to score 88 points with a lifetime of over 150,000M. Her most promising daughter would be Hoodstead Dominate Panda, 2E91 91MS. Panda was Nicoles first 4-H project and is a favorite of Nicole. Panda won the Maryland Bell Ringer title in 2002, 2003, 2004, and was a member of the 2002 Reserve All-American Jr. Best Three Females. The other two members of that team hailed from the New Year family. Panda has a lifetime 105,090M, and is currently on a flush program. She has twin Parker daughters scored V86 and E90 90 MS. A Victor daughter Pippie scored V89 90 MS. Nicole did quite well with daughter, Pippie, in 2008. She was nominated All American Spring Yearling 2008; Res. National Bell Ringer 2008; was Jr. Champion and Best Bred and Owned of the Palmer Hoffman National Heifer show, and was Res. Jr. Champion at the Eastern National and Central National Jr. Shows in 2008. Panda is quite the promotion cow, having traveled to schools, churches, and 4-H workshops many times.
Scott has enjoyed his partnership in Swiss with past extension agent, David Eigenbrode of Frederick. They enjoy traveling to shows together, and both experienced the World Dairy Expo for the first time when they took Nicole out to show Hoodstead Victor Pippie in 2008. Judy stayed home to take care of the girls there. Fortunately for Scott and Judy, they have teamed up with a top quality, professional show crew that gives our cows the national exposure that we cannot. Time and labor restrictions on the farm do not allow us to travel to shows and conventions as we would like, but are blessed by the expertise of Jennifer and Chris Hill who help to bring national recognition to Hoodstead cattle.
Scott and Judy received a 25 year plaque with the Brown Swiss Cattle Breeders Assoc. in 2008. In 2009 Nicole was selected as one of four finalists in the country in the National Youth Achievement contest. The same year the farm received the High Protein Award and the H. R. Searles Trophy for high butterfat for records made in 2008 by Hoodstead Blue Chip Nada. She produced 1,5l7 lbs. protein and 2,812 lbs. fat in that year.
Nicole is very active as a Junior at Middletown High School. She is a straight A honor student; is a member of the National Honor Society; is secretary of the MHS FFA; plays Varsity Field Hockey and was selected for the Honorable Mention team in 2009; is a member of the Washington Co. 4-H Dairy Club; and sings with the Praise team at the Christ Reformed UCC Church in Middletown and is a youth member on the Christian Education Board.
Scott is currently on the Board of Directors for the MD Brown Swiss Assoc., and has served as past president. Judy and Scott are currently youth leaders for the junior members of the Assoc. They both are also members of the Christ Reformed Church where Judy has been a 4th/5th grade Sunday School teacher for seven years. They are members of the Middletown FFA Alumni, and currently are helping to coach various teams of the FFA. Judy is also teaching flower arranging at the high school. They are both strong supporters of the 4-H Dairy Judging program and have hosted dairy judging practices at their farm for many years. Both Judy and Scott come from a strong background of 4-H and FFA.
Scott is knowledgeable about all aspects of breeding and can assist you in making decisions about your animals. He freely shares is knowledge with others. Hoodstead has quality calves and embryos to select your next winner. Visitors are always welcome!
For more information, see the farm advertisement.
